A former San Clemente fire station at 1030 Calle Negocio will become the new home of Family Assistance Ministries, a charity organization that provides food and other services for south Orange County’s needy.

FAM could begin moving into the 8,934-square-foot building in March under a five-year lease agreement that will, over the life of the lease, pay the city $349,770 in rent. The city’s net income from the deal will be $50,990 less than that, since the city will perform $30,000 in tenant improvements and pay a $20,990 commission to the brokers of the lease.

Mary Perdue, FAM’s executive director, said the organization needs more space than the 4,000 square feet at its current location at 929 Calle Negocio, just down the street from the former fire station.

“We are just bursting at the seams,” Perdue said. “We have things stored in a truck.”

Under terms announced by the city, FAM will take possession March 1 and the lease will begin May 1, with FAM leasing 5,974 square feet of the building for monthly rent of $4,182 for the first three years. That includes the building’s entire office area and a majority of the warehouse, City Manager George Scarborough said.

In the fourth year, FAM will take over 8,021 square feet of the building, paying $7,219 per month. In the fifth year, FAM will take over the entire building, paying $8,487 per month.

Portions of the building not used by FAM during the first four years will be used by the city for storage.

Perdue said FAM’s bigger new home will provide better access for clients and enable FAM to bring in more services. “The need is huge,” she said. “We’re going to bring more services down here to help (clients) get back on their feet.”

FAM operates a food pantry and helps clients with rent and utilities, provides bus and gasoline vouchers and offers free tax help, workforce assistance and credit counseling. FAM also operates Gilchrist House, a transitional shelter for women and their young children, at another location in San Clemente. For more about all the services, visit family-assistance.org or call 949-492-8477.

SEE THE RELATED LINKS ABOUT FAM AND ITS SERVICES AND EVENTS.

FAM is currently a site for an Internal Revenue Service program designed to help the working poor take advantage of the earned income tax credit on their tax forms.

Perdue said One-Stop, an Orange County employment agency, helps FAM’s clients several times a month by appointment. Also, the Illumination Foundation helps clients craft resumés, do job searches and prepare for job interviews, she said.

Fred Swegles grew up in small-town San Clemente before the freeway. He has covered the town since 1970. Today he covers San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano. He was in the second graduating class at San Clemente High School, after having spent the first two years of high school in double sessions at historic Capistrano Union High School in San Juan. When the new high school opened, he became first sports editor of the school paper, The Triton. He studied journalism and Spanish at USC on scholarship, graduating with honors. Was sports editor of the Daily Trojan. Surfed on the USC surf team. (High school surfing didn't exist back then.) With the Sun Post, he began covering competitive surfing from the mid-1970s, with the birth of the the modern world tour and the origins of high school surf teams. He got into surf photography and into world travel. Has surfed on six continents (not Antarctica). Has visited 11 San Clementes. Has written photo-illustrated profiles on most of them, with more in the works.

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